Info
What craft do you work with?
I work with glass, using kilns to heat the material, creating new forms from particles or fusing enamel surface decoration onto a piece. I discovered glassmaking as an evening class over twenty years ago which led me to study Architectural Glass full time at Edinburgh College of Art, graduating with my BA (Hons) degree in 2007. Although I also learnt glassblowing during that time and have had the privilege to experience world renowned artists in this field, it’s never been a technique that I’ve had ideas for. It is the more solitary processes of kiln forming that I chose to establish my studio to facilitate.
What are the main inspirations for your work?
My sculptural work is primarily representational, and I thrive in the process driven aspects of working with glass in order to create the structural forms and details that inspire me. There is also the constant and sometimes unexpected troubleshooting element that keeps me engaged with the material. Through this precise working practice, I attempt to explore contrasting concepts of fragility both within myself and the natural world around us.
It may sound cliché but I find the material of glass itself, endlessly inspiring. When I first discovered it as something to create with it was the amazing colour palette of transparencies that changed when you applied opaque enamels to block the light transmitting through. Then when I learnt more techniques, it was the different forms glass can take when molten, cast, manipulated, carved, engraved and crushed. Glass is all around us yet seemingly overlooked as having artistic merit or potential when the possibilities of using this material are as abundant as it is.
How would you like your practice to develop in the future?
Personally, although I have been fortunate enough to have exhibited around the world and secured various awards, I would love to work more collaboratively with artists from other mediums and scales. The challenge and focus of presenting a body of work at a show such as COLLECT or SOFA has been a longstanding dream of mine.
You can see more of my work here:
Website: https://www.rachel-elliott.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flyingcheesetoastie/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rachel.Elliott.Glassworks